Chicago is having a bit of a moment so today’s song of the day is one that pays tribute to the city’s history. Here is Ennio Morricone’s Theme From The Untouchables.
Tag Archives: Chicago
Song of the Day: Chicago by Frank Sinatra
We have a new pope and he’s from Chicago! Which brings us to today’s song of the day….
Now, this could only happen to a guy like me
And only happen in a town like this
So may I say to each of you most gratefully
As I throw each one of you a kiss, this is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of people, too
People who smile at you
And each time I roam, Chicago is
Calling me home, Chicago is
Why I just grin like a clown
It’s my kind of town
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of razzmatazz
And it has all that jazz
And each time I leave, Chicago is
Tuggin’ my sleeve, Chicago is
The Wrigley Building, Chicago is
The Union Stockyard, Chicago is
One town that won’t let you down
It’s my kind of town
Songwriters: Sammy Cahn / Jimmy Van Heusen
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Dancing Edition
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
4 Shots From 4 Films
The Red Shoes (1948, dir by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, DP: Jack Cardiff)
Saturday Night Fever (1977, dir by John Badham, DP: Ralf D. Bode)
Flashdance (1983, dir by Adrian Lyne, DP: Donald Peterman)
Chicago (2002, dir by Rob Marshall, DP: Dion Beebe)
4 Shots From 4 Best Picture Winners: The 2000s
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today, I’m using this feature to take a look at the history of the Academy Award for Best Picture. Decade by decade, I’m going to highlight my picks for best of the winning films. To start with, here are 4 shots from 4 Films that won Best Picture during the 2000s! Here are….
4 Shots From 4 Best Picture Winners: The 2000s
Chicago (2002, dir by Rob Marshall, DP: Dion Beebe)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, dir by Peter Jackson, DP: Andrew Lesnie)
The Departed (2006, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Ballhaus)
No Country For Old Men (2007, dir by Joel and Ethan Coen, DP: Roger Deakins)
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Stardom Edition
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
With the Oscars approaching, it seems appropriate to pay tribute to stardom with 4 shots from 4 films!
4 Shots From 4 Films About Being A Star
Mulholland Drive (2001, dir by David Lynch, DP: Peter Deming)
Chicago (2002, dir by Rob Marshall, DP: Dion Beebe)
Maps to the Stars (2014, dir by David Cronenberg, DP: Peter Suschitzky)
The Neon Demon (2016, dir by Nicolas Winding Refn, DP: Natasha Braier)
Music Video of the Day: 25 to 6 to 4 by Chicago (1986, directed by Andy Brenton)
This music video may start in a high run by a fascist society but luckily, there’s no band that better represents youthful rebellion than … Chicago?
One of the interesting things about this video is that the production design was done by Larry Paull, who was also largely responsible for the futuristic look of Blade Runner. This video does appear that it could be taking place in the Blade Runner/Alien cinematic universe.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Saturday In The Park by Chicago (1973, directed by ????)
Though the band may have been named after Chicago, the park referred to in this song is New York’s Central Park. Robert Lamm enjoyed spending the 4th of July in the park and he went on to write this song about it. It became one of Chicago’s biggest hits and it also became a song that was regularly featured in various Time Life musical compilations. Back in the day, anytime a Time Life infomercial came on TV, you knew that you were going to get this song’s chorus stuck in your head.
In one form or another, Chicago the band has been around for over 50 years. They were originally called The Big Thing before changing their name to Chicago Transit Authority. There’s an urban legend that the real CTA sued the band for copyright infringement but the official story is that the band changed their name because Chicago was a simpler name and easier to remember. By changing their name, the band allowed people to associate Chicago with something other than Mayor Daley, which undoubtedly helped to improve the city’s reputation.
Enjoy!
Here’s The Trailer for Eli Roth’s Death Wish!
We all know that Chicago has one of the highest murder rates in the nation. What is not so clear is what to do about it.
Now, some would argue that perhaps a good first step would be for Chicago voters to stop electing douchebags like Rahm Emanuel, reject the city’s political machine, and actually make the sacrifices necessary for actual reform while taking an honest look at the effects of systemic racism, police corruption, and the bloated municipal government.
You could do all that or you could just give Bruce Willis a gun and send him out on a murder spree. Guess which solution Death Wish goes for?
This film, from Eli Roth, will be released on November 22nd. I imagine our resident Charles Bronson experts, Gary Loggins and Jedadiah Leland, will have a lot to say about it.
A Movie A Day #122: The Lost Capone (1990, directed by John Gray)
Chicago. 1915. Up-and-coming gangster Al Capone (Eric Roberts) berates his younger brother, Jimmy (Adrian Pasdar), for not being aggressive enough in a street fight. Not wanting to follow his brothers into a life of organized crime, Jimmy runs away from home and eventually finds himself in Harmony, Nebraska. Claiming to be a World War I vet named Richard Hart, Jimmy impresses everyone with both his marksmanship and his incorruptible nature. Soon, the new Richard Hart has been named town marshal. While Al Capone is taking over the Chicago rackets, Richard is keeping the town safe with his Native American deputy, Joseph Littlecloud (Jimmie F. Skaggs), and starting a family with the local school teacher, Kathleen (Ally Sheedy). When illegal liquor from Chicago starts to show up on a nearby Indian reservation, Richard Hart comes into conflict with the Chicago Outfit and his secret is finally revealed.
There is a sliver of truth to this made-for-TV movie. Al Capone really did have a brother named James, who ended up changing his name to Richard Hart and working as a prohibition agent in Nebraska. Otherwise, the movie changes so many facts that it is hard to know where to begin. In real life, Al and James Capone grew up in New York. James, who was actually several years older than Al, ran away from home not to escape Al’s bullying but because he wanted to join the circus. (Al was only 9 when James ran away.) James changed his name to Richard Hart not to keep people from realizing that he was related to Al but because he admired silent screen cowboy William S. Hart. Though James did work in law enforcement, he never came into conflict with Al Capone’s organization and, in fact, regularly visited Chicago.
The Lost Capone is a forgettable mix of western and gangster clichés, featuring a notably stiff performance from Adrian Pasdar in the lead role. It does feature two of the strangest performances that I have ever seen. Eric Roberts, complete with a phony scar, playing Al Capone is just as weird as it sounds, while Ally Sheedy plays a wholesome and always smiling teacher but delivers her lines in the same halting tone of voice that she used as the “basket case” in The Breakfast Club.
There is probably a good movie that could be made about the life of James Capone/Richard Hart but The Lost Capone is not it.
A Movie A Day #121: Frank Nitti: The Enforcer (1988, directed by Michael Switzer)
Everyone knows who Al Capone was but few people remember Frank Nitti. Nicknamed “The Enforcer,” Nitti was Capone’s right-hand man. When Big Al was sent to federal prison for not paying his taxes, Nitti was the one who kept things going in Chicago. While Al was losing his mind in Florida, Nitti was the one who moved the Chicago Outfit away from prostitution and into the labor racket. Today, if anyone remembers Frank Nitti, it is probably because of the scene in Brian DePalma’s The Untouchables where Eliot Ness tosses him off of a building. In real life, Nitti survived the Untouchable era just to become one of the few crime bosses to die by his own hand. In 1943, With the feds closing in on him, Nitti shot himself in a Chicago rail yard.
Frank Nitti: The Enforcer was a made-for-TV movie that told the story of Nitti’s life. Broadcast a year after The Untouchables, Nitti is, in many ways, a direct refutation of DePalma’s film. Eliot Ness never appears in the movie and is dismissed, by special prosecutor Hugh Kelly (Michael Moriarty), as being a publicity seeker. Al Capone (Vincent Guastaferro) is ruthless and resents being called Scarface but he never hits anyone with a baseball bat. In this movie, the only real villains are the Irish cops who harass Nitti (played by Anthony LaPaglia, in his American film debut) and Chicago’s ambitious mayor, Anton Cermak (Bruce Kirby). Cermak orders a corrupt cop (Mike Starr) to shoot Nitti and the film implies that Cermak’s subsequent assassination was payback.
Though it sometimes tries too hard to portray its title character as just being a salt of the Earth family man who also happened to be the biggest mob boss in the country, Nitti is a good gangster film. Michael Moriarty’s performance is a forerunner to his work on Law & Order and Trini Alvarado is lovely as Nitti’s wife. Anthony LaPaglia gives a good performance in the lead role, with the film’s portrayal of Nitti as a ruthless but reluctant mob boss predating The Sopranos by a decade.
Through the Shattered Lens 